B.R. Ambedkar > Quotes

“Every man who repeats the dogma of Mill that one country is no fit to rule another country must admit that one class is not fit to rule another class.”
― Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar

“A historian ought to be exact, sincere and impartial;
free from passion, unbiased by interest, fear, resentment or affection;
and faithful to the truth, which is the mother of history the preserver of great actions, the enemy of oblivion, the witness of the past, the director of the future.”
― Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, Writings And Speeches: A Ready Reference Manual

“the outcaste is a bye-product of the caste system. There will be outcastes as long as there are castes. Nothing can emancipate the outcaste except the destruction of the caste system.”
― B R Ambedkar, Annihilation of Caste: The Annotated Critical Edition

“For a successful revolution it is not enough that there is discontent. What is required is a profound and thorough conviction of the justice, necessity and importance of political and social rights.”
― Bhim Rao Ambedkar

“Political tyranny is nothing compared to the social tyranny and a reformer who defies society is a more courageous man than a politician who defies Government.”
― Bhim Rao Ambedkar

“Every man must have a philosophy of life,
for everyone must have a standard by which to measure his conduct.
And philosophy is nothing but a standard by which to measure.”
― Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, Writings And Speeches: A Ready Reference Manual

“religion is for man and not man for religion”
― Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, Writings And Speeches: A Ready Reference Manual

“In 1931, when Ambedkar met Gandhi for the first time, Gandhi questioned him about his sharp criticism of the Congress (which, it was assumed, was tantamount to criticising the struggle for the Homeland). “Gandhiji, I have no Homeland,” was Ambedkar’s famous reply. “No Untouchable worth the name will be proud of this land.”61”
― B R Ambedkar, Annihilation of Caste: The Annotated Critical Edition

“Democracy is not merely a form of Government...It is essentially an attitude of respect and reverence towards fellowmen.”
― B.R. Ambedkar, Annihilation of Caste

“My definition of democracy is -
A form and a method of Government whereby revolutionary changes in the social life are brought about without bloodshed.
That is the real test. It is perhaps the severest test. But when you are judging the quality of the material you must put it to the severest test.”
― Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, Writings And Speeches: A Ready Reference Manual

“A safe army is better than a safe border”
― Bhim Rao Ambedkar

“The basic idea underlying religion is to create an atmosphere for the spiritual development of the individual.”
― Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, Writings And Speeches: A Ready Reference Manual

“Caste is another name for control. Caste puts a limit on enjoyment. Caste does not allow a person to transgress caste limits in pursuit of his enjoyment. That is the meaning of such caste restrictions as inter-dining and inter-marriage … These being my views I am opposed to all those who are out to destroy the Caste System.57”
― B.R. Ambedkar, Annihilation of Caste: The Annotated Critical Edition

“How many generations of ours have worn themselves out by rubbing their foreheads on the steps of the god? But when did the god take pit on you? What big thing has he done for you? Generation after generation, you have been used to clean the village of its garbage and god gave you the dead animals to eat. In spite of all that, god did not show you any pity. It is not this god that you worship, it is your ignorance.”
― B.R. Ambedkar

“If you ask me, my ideal would be the society based on liberty, equality and fraternity. An ideal society should be mobile and full of channels of conveying a change taking place in one part to other parts.”
― Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, Writings And Speeches: A Ready Reference Manual

“Once you clear the minds of the people of this misconception and enable them to realise that what they are told is religion is not religion, but that it is really law, you will be in a position to urge its amendment or abolition.”
― B.R. Ambedkar, Annihilation of Caste

“One cannot have any respect or regard for men who take the position of the reformer and then refuse to see the logical consequences of that position, let alone following them out in action.”
― Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, Writings And Speeches: A Ready Reference Manual

“I refuse to join with them in performing the miracle—I will not say trick—of liberating the oppressed with the gold of the tyrant, and raising the poor with the cash of the rich.”
― B.R. Ambedkar, Annihilation of Caste: The Annotated Critical Edition

“Religion, social status, and property are all sources of power and authority which one man has, to control the liberty of another”
― B.R. Ambedkar, Annihilation of Caste

“The fallacy of the socialists lies in supposing that because in the present stage of European society property as a source of power is predominant, the same is true of India, or the same was true of Europe in the past. Religion, social status, and property are all sources of power and authority which one man has to control the liberty of another. One is predominant at one stage; the other is predominant at another stage. That is the only difference. If liberty is the ideal, and if liberty means the destruction of the dominion which one man holds over another, then obviously it cannot be insisted upon that economic reform must be the one kind of reform worthy of pursuit. If the source of power and dominion is, at any given time or in any given society, social and religious, then social reform and religious reform must be accepted as the necessary sort of reform.”
― B.R. Ambedkar

“Nothing is infallible. Nothing is binding forever. Everything is subject to inquiry and examination.”
― B.R. Ambedkar, Buddha or Karl Marx

“Every Congressman who repeats the dogma of Mill that one country is not fit to rule another country must admit that one class is not fit to rule another class.”
― B.R. Ambedkar, Annihilation of Caste

“You must not only discard the Shastras, you must deny their authority, as did Buddha and Nanak. You must have courage to tell the Hindus that what is wrong with them is their religion—the religion which has produced in them this notion of the sacredness of Caste. Will you show that courage?”
― B.R. Ambedkar, Annihilation of Caste

“The protagonists of chaturvarnya do not seem to have considered what is to happen to women in their system. Are they also to be divided into four classes, Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra? Or are they to be allowed to take the status of their husbands? If the status of the woman is to be the consequence of marriage, what becomes of the underlying principle of chaturvarnya—namely, that the status of a person should be based upon the worth of that person? If they are to be classified according to their worth, is their classification to be nominal or real?”
― B R Ambedkar, Annihilation of Caste: The Annotated Critical Edition

“Every profession in India is regulated. Engineers must show proficiency, Doctor must show proficiency, Lawyers must show proficiency, before they are allowed to practise their professions. During the whole of their career, they must not only obey the law of the land, civil as well as criminal, but they must also obey the special code of morals prescribed by their respective professions. The priest's is the only profession where proficiency is not required. The profession of a Hindu priest is the only profession which is not subject to any code....All this becomes possible among the Hindus because for a priest it is enough to be born in a priestly caste. The whole thing is abominable and is due to the fact that the priestly class among Hindus is subject neither to law nor to morality. It recognizes no duties. It knows only of rights and privileges. It is a pest which divinity seems to have let loose on the masses for their mental and moral degradation.”
― B.R. Ambedkar, Annihilation of Caste

“While I am prepared to bear with the imperfections and shortcomings of the society in which I may be destined to labour, I feel I should not consent to live in a society which cherishes wrong ideals, or a society which, having right ideals, will not consent to bring its social life into conformity with those ideals.”
― B.R. Ambedkar, Annihilation of Caste

“Dalit aspirations are a breach of peace. Annihilation of Caste is a breach of peace.”
― B.R. Ambedkar, Annihilation of Caste: The Annotated Critical Edition

“Plato had no perception of the uniqueness of every individual, of his incommensurability with others, of each individual as forming a class of his own. He had no recognition of the infinite diversity of active tendencies, and the combination of tendencies of which an individual is capable.”
― B.R. Ambedkar, Annihilation of Caste: The Annotated Critical Edition

“Under the rule of the Peshwas in the Maratha country,11 the Untouchable was not allowed to use the public streets if a Hindu was coming along, lest he should pollute the Hindu by his shadow. The Untouchable was required to have a black thread either on his wrist or around his neck, as a sign or a mark to prevent the Hindus from getting themselves polluted by his touch by mistake. In Poona, the capital of the Peshwa, the Untouchable was required to carry, strung from his waist, a broom to sweep away from behind himself the dust he trod on, lest a Hindu walking on the same dust should be polluted. In Poona, the Untouchable was required to carry an earthen pot hung around his neck wherever he went—for holding his spit, lest his spit falling on the earth should pollute a Hindu who might unknowingly happen to tread on it.”
― B R Ambedkar, Annihilation of Caste: The Annotated Critical Edition

“The path of social reform like the path to heaven at any rate in India, is strewn with many difficulties. Social reform in India has few friends and many critics.”
― Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, Annihilation of Caste